1-on-1 Podcast: Maryland coach John Tillman

Maryland's website couldn't be more direct, and accurate, with its headline this week: "It's Hopkins week … Enough Said."

And while we agree that the epic Maryland-Hopkins rivalry, which may or may not be more intense than Army-Navy, does stand alone, we decided to grab UM coach John Tillman for a 1-on-1 podcast to further break down Saturday night's Top 5 matchup at Byrd Stadium (live on ESPNU at 8).

Tillman is in his first year with the Terps after coming over from Harvard last summer. No. 4 Maryland is 8-2 and comes off two big wins (Virginia and Navy), and faces one of the country's hottest teams in No. 3 Hopkins (8-2), winners of three in a row (Virginia, North Carolina, Albany). The former Navy assistant had an emotional game last Friday night at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium not only returning to the place he coached for 12 years but facing the memorial tribute to former Mid Brendan Looney before the game.

This will be the 107th meeting of Hopkins-Maryland, a game that played at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium the past two seasons along with Army-Navy as part of Inside Lacrosse's Smartlink Day of Rivals.

Tillman talked about the big rivalry game Saturday night, his transition so far in Year 1 at Maryland, the emotions he dealt with last Friday at Navy, the seven times UM has faced a zone defense this year, how Ryan Young is doing as his mother battles pancreatic cancer back on Long Island and the emergence of sophomore goalie Niko Amato.

Check out the full podcast with Coach Tillman here:

Be sure to listen to my other recent 1-on-1 podcasts, AND, now that we're back in the audio flow, check back next week for my latest conversation. Click here to access all of Inside Lacrosse's Podcasts via Itunes.